Dixie: Evolution and its Effect on Rural Special Education

While Dixie encompasses the Southeastern region of the United States, it is better defined by the state of mind of its residents than by its geographic boundaries. In The Nine Nations of North America, Garreau (1981) defined Dixie as a quilt, referring to its diversity across social, climactic, historical, political, topographical, and racial factors and declared that its boundaries were “defined more by emotion than any other nation” (p. 131). This has not changed in the past 25 years. Bordered by the Ohio River to the north, the Atlantic Low Country to the east, the Gulf Coast to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west, the region encompasses (a) the Appalachian Mountains running through Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee; (b) the Tidewater region of Virginia, the Outer Banks or North Carolina, and the Low Country of South Carolina and Georgia; (c) the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the Bluegrass of Kentucky; (d) the foothills of the Carolinas and Tennessee; (e) the cotton fields and Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi; and (f) the riverboat country from Covington, KY, to New Orleans, LA. Each of the these areas of Southeastern United States has a distinct culture while still falling under the vast umbrella of Dixie, a region once defined by the Confederacy during the War Between the States (still referred to by some Southerners as the “War of Northern Aggression”). Through snapshots of events that have occurred in Dixie in the past 25 years, this article will attempt to illustrate a region that is experiencing vast changes in the 20th Century while attempting to cling to its Southern identity. These changes reflect economic, historical, and social evolution. It will conclude by focusing on the impact the evolution of the Dixie has had on education, with a particular focus on rural special education.